Trash Emergency

This was what I faced when coming home from work on Friday afternoon. Disgusting and horrifying, but the smell that pervaded the air in Pigneto betrayed the truth that we’d been living in a waste dump for the past week. Further photos taken all over Roma Est show that the situation is dire and Ama, the waste management agency of Rome, is still trying to catch up. According to an article in Il Messaggero, the backup came from the closure of a private sanitation plant that was closed for not being up to code, however the same article also points out that Ama shouldn’t have been surprised because the closure date had been discussed prior. Alemanno will be having a meeting with Ama on Tuesday to discuss the situation and has come out saying that the newspapers that have compared the situation to Naples are being “unfair,” but guess what, I’ll tell you what’s unfair. What’s unfair is that those of us living in the area have to be surrounded by garbage and whatever insects and rodents they bring because the city can’t get their act together. Perhaps more time should be spent on organizing basic services for citizens rather than wasting frivolous energy on initiatives. Rant over!